With the popularity of optical communication apparatus, the demand of the cost reduction and the functionality improvement to the optical communication apparatus has been increasing. The optical component is one of the essential components in the optical communication apparatus, especially in the optical transmitter-receiver module for digital communication. In a conventional optical transmitter-receiver module, the optical component accounts for more than 80% of total cost. Under the condition of same optical output power, the higher the coupling efficiency is, the less the drive current is needed, and thereby leading to less power consumption. Thus, the coupling efficiency of the optical transmitter-receiver module is important when it is operated at high temperature. Furthermore, under the condition of same drive current and same optical output power, the higher the coupling efficiency is, the lower the luminous efficacy of a laser diode is needed, and thereby reducing the cost of the optical transmitter-receiver module.
In order to increase the capacity and the density of a compact optical transmitter-receiver module in the conventional data center, both the transmission rate of the optical signal in each channel and the number of the channel should be increased. Thus, the manufacturers usually equip the optical communication apparatus with a multi-channel parallel optical transmitter-receiver module. The optical components are conventionally coupled to each other by the optical fibers and the jumper, which is a higher cost method. When the conventional data center has the multi-channel parallel signal transmission system, the MPO/MTP connector is adapted for connecting the optical components for multi-channel parallel signal transmission, and the cost of the MPO/MTP connector is up to 15 USD which is extremely expensive for the data center.
Therefore, there is a need to develop an optical transmitter-receiver assembly for multi-channel parallel signal transmission featuring low cost.